10.22.2009

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Dear Diary,

I've been thinking about this verse a lot lately, so I just thought I would share it with you.

10.13.2009

Recently, I have been reading through bestselling author Leslie Ludy's Set Apart Femininity- by far the best Christian book I've read in a long time. In fact, it has changed my view on my Christian faith, especially concerning my prayer life. For those of you who have read through Nehemiah, you know that Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall around Israel- as he did so, the enemy attacked, but because the people of Israel were vigilant, they watched over the city. In Set Apart Femininity, Leslie has been talking about how our lives should be fortified with a wall to protect ourselves from Satan's temptations and lies. However, sometimes there can be breaches in our walls- places where we are openly allowing sin into our lives and doing nothing about it! Well, I knew that I needed to figure out what those breaches in my wall were and do something about them. I want a whole, fortified wall that will protect me from all sorts of evil. I want a peaceful relationship with my Lord! Well, I am a very visual person- maybe someone else out there is too- so I decided to draw a picture in my Bible time this morning to illustrate the breaches in my wall. Then I planned to pray afterwards. But as I started to list all of the breaches in my wall, it kind of scared me to see all of the places the enemy was being allowed in my life. I felt like I needed to fortify my wall! So, God lead me to cover the wall in scripture verses that are hidden in my heart and the result was amazing! After I had written the scriptures, I felt so safe and protected by God's authority and strength in my life. The verses were literally spilling over my wall and there were only a very few spaces left. Below is an illustration of part of my wall. I encourage you to draw a wall- trust me, it doesn't have to be fancy!- and fill it with a list of the breaches you are allowing into your life. You can include pretty much anything that is hindering your happiness and your relationship with God. Then cover it in scriptures- they can be ones you know, or you could look some up. If you need help finding any, you can search a key word at blueletterbible.com. Let me know how it goes. I would love to hear if this was a useful tool to you! I'll be praying that you will be able to see the breaches in your wall and that with the grace of God you would fortify your wall and that God would protect you from the enemy.

10.10.2009

Etiquette sounds old world doesn't it? when I think of etiquette I think of "how to bow to the queen" and "which fork two use first when you have over a dozen." and honestly I don't ever think I'll be in one of those situations. I'll never bow to a queen and I usually don't have more then two utensils at my seat at the same time. In fact I don't really get out of the house that often. The only people I see on a regular basics are just my family and c'mon there family I don't have to use poshy manners around them.

Okay, you get the point right? Manners, or etiquette, are important even in the home. if you don't quite get me give it a tad more thought and then come back here.

ready? good. So your probably wondering why I'm filing this post under beauty tip. Well have you ever heard the expression. "she has beautiful manners" catch the word beautiful. her manners are, as seen in the statement, beautiful. There's so much more to being beautiful then having silky hair or slender fingers. and one of those things are manners. In fact the state of the manners of a young lady can enhance or detract from her beauty in a obvious way.

a beautiful voice is nothing if the young lady insists on interrupting. beautiful fingers are made unattractive when they are used instead of a fork.

So you probably know how to use good manners. this stuff is probably old news. But do you use them? everyday even with you own family? especially with your own family? being beautiful at home is the first step to staying beautiful when you walk out your front door.

10.09.2009

"Perhaps mother was a little hasty today, Caddie," he said. "She really loves you very much, and, you see, she expects more of you than she would of someone she didn't care about. It's a strange thing, but somehow we expect more of girls than of boys. It is the sisters and wives and mothers, you know, Caddie, who keep the world sweet and beautiful. What a rough world it would be if there were only men and boys in it, doing things in their rough way! A woman's task is to teach them gentleness and courtesy and love and kindness. It's a big task, too, Caddie -- harder than cutting trees or building mills or damming rivers. It takes nerve and courage and patience, but good women have those things. They have them just as much as the men who build bridges and carve roads through the wilderness.A woman's work is something fine and noble to grow up to, and it is just as important as a man's. But no man could ever do it so well. I don't want you to be the silly, affected person with fine clothes and manners whom folks sometimes call a lady. I want you to be a woman with a wise and understanding heart, healthy in body and honest in mind. Do you think you would like to be growing up into that woman now? How about it, Caddie, have we run with the colts long enough?"

-Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink

That quote really struck me. It made me want to be a lady, more than usual. I've always wanted to be like that. But this put it into words so beautifully that it went straight to my heart.

10.05.2009

Psalm 119:9 says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word." The purpose of this blog is to encourage young ladies to live according to God's Word...and to live differently than our culture encourages us to. Follow us as we venture to grow in our relationships with God and share our experiences with you. Being a set-apart young lady in a worldly culture can be hard...but with God's help we can do anything!

Proverbs 31:10

A [woman] of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.